CVE-2026-48984CWE-14CWE-226

pam_usb: xfree() does not call explicit_bzero — sensitive cryptographic material may linger in freed heap

Medium · published June 18, 2026

CVSS v3.1
4.7
EPSS
0%
Percentile
4.2
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

pam_usb provides hardware authentication for Linux using ordinary removable media. In versions 0.9.1 and below, the xfree() memory release helper in calls free() without first zeroing the buffer contents, releasing heap-allocated buffers containing sensitive data — including one-time pad bytes read from disk — without clearing, leaving the sensitive content in freed heap memory until it happens to be overwritten by a subsequent allocation. On a system where a use-after-free condition exists, or where a heap inspection primitive becomes available, this could allow recovery of pad values or other authentication material from freed memory regions. This is a defence-in-depth requirement consistent with prior hardening work in this codebase (GHSA-vx6f-rrqr-j87c applied explicit_bzero to some pad paths; this issue generalises the pattern to the central deallocation helper).

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
4.7 · MEDIUM
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00147 · 4.2th percentile
Weaknesses
CWE-14 · Compiler Removal of Code to Clear Buffers; CWE-226 · Sensitive Information in Resource Not Removed Before Reuse
Published
2026-06-18T17:06Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 18 JUN 17:06Z
    pam_usb: xfree() does not call explicit_bzero — sensitive cryptographic material may linger in freed heap
    cvelistv5